Stargate: Dark Frontier 2x08 Medai's Shadow
by Lone-ranger1
Summary: When an Olim signal is detected at an old homestead, Kevin Marks will have to ride shotgun on the oldest Traveler ship in order to investigate it. He's looking for answers, but he'll find just a little more than he bargained for.
1. Chapter 1

**Stargate: Dark Frontier**

**Season 2**

**Episode 8 – Medai's Shadow**

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388 Days IHO_

_74 Days AOI

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For information on season 1, go to

http(COLON)/sg-darkfrontier(DOT)wikia(DOT)com/wiki/Stargate(COLON)_Dark_Frontier_Wiki

**Previously on Dark Frontier:** _The Raid on the Olim yielded great success, and Atlantis is back on its feet. The consequences are still being felt, but not everyone is taking it so easily. Some are pushed away, others are pulled closer._

_The Olim are still a threat, but Chuck's found something that warrants some investigation. Kevin Marks will take the Medai, the oldest Traveler Ship on a mission to explore and find answers – answers he may not like._

* * *

**Kevin Marks:** You know, I always wondered where you guys got these ships.

**Larrin:** What? You didn't honestly think we had the resources to build ships from scratch did you?"

**Kevin Marks:** Well… yeah.

**Larrin:** when you've got the Wraith chasing you down, you slap it together airtight and pray it holds in hyperspace. You build it as you're on the run.

**Kevin Marks:** Reminds me of doing homework on the way to class…

* * *

"Are you sure Chuck? This isn't the time for jokes."

Chuck gave Daniel an annoyed glare. Sure he was a card six days from Sunday, but that still left Sunday dammit! "Does this face look like it's joking?"

Teyla smirked from her position beside Daniel as they stood in the control room where several Travelers and Settlers in training operated the city's Stargate Traffic. "Often it is difficult to tell."

Daniel resisted the urge to laugh at Chuck's annoyed face and said. "Okay okay, you're serious. What's so important about this signal to pull us out of the council meeting?"

Chuck blinked twice as if he didn't understand. "It's Olim. It's an emergency beacon. I just ran it through the translation matrix and it comes out as 'Shadows'."

Daniel winced. "I'm guessing that really means…"

"Shade." Teyla finished. She looked to Chuck who gave her a pedantic smile. "We know Daniel."

Daniel turned to them both and sighed. "I never said you didn't!" He sighed and shook his head. "Is it anywhere close to us? Is it a threat?"

Chuck shook his head. "No, it's pretty far away, but there's something that's worrying…"He paused for effect. "It's Saudade. The planet we used to be on."

Daniel raised his eyebrows. "The Olim are there?"

Teyla shrugged and rubbed her hands together."Evidently they're not anymore." She gave Daniel an amused face. "Perhaps Kevin can find something to do while Radek works on Daedalus."

Chuck smiled as he thought about it. "Wonder how that's going…"

* * *

Sam watched as the Traveler Shuttle moved over to the port hangar of the Daedalus and set down on the hull. Three technicians came out and began to assess the ship. Behind her, she heard Radek and Marks discussing Radek's plans for the Earth ship. She tuned it out though, just thinking about how it'd now been 2 weeks since the raid on the Olim.

"Sam?"

Sam turned and saw Rafaela standing behind her. "Rafaela? What's up?"

Rafaela smiled and motioned Sam over. "Come on, Radek's getting to the techy bits and I know you wanted to be a part."

Sam chuckled and nodded. Science was so much easier. Mila was right. Hyperdrives were easier than people.

The small lab on _Lucy_ was a perfect place to draw up the retrofit Radek had designed. Sam moved over to the table and saw the schematics on the table. Marks stroked his chin, his beard making a slight rasping sound. "Kevin, what do you think of the new design?"

Kevin shifted in his stance as he looked down. "Well… it's _different._ If we weren't up against the Shade I'd never agree to this but…" He sighed. "..It makes sense."

Radek nodded and wheeled himself over to the side. Sam couldn't believe how different Radek looked. He'd grown his hair out a fair amount and unlike the unruly tribble it was before, it was combed and slick. His upper body had grown from having to wheel himself about, and Sam was still surprised by the muscles on Radek's forearms.

Radek stopped and pointed out specific points on the picture of the ship. "Given the opposition we may be facing, Daedalus isn't fitted properly for a long term engagement." He pointed the hangers specifically out. "The 302s are not fitted either. In a conflict they would be little but fodder."

Kevin nodded and cracked his knuckles. "Not like we have many people who can fly em. We can teach but…" He looked up to Sam. "…it'd be suicide."

Sam nodded and then explained what Radek had told her earlier. "We can refit them, but that's not the main idea we have. Since the Shade can naturally absorb energy in such large amounts, we want to give Daedalus a few more advantages." She ran her finger along the picture. "With the nanite foundry on Atlantis, we want to start building heavy carbon nanotube sheets of armor. If we could _replace_ Daedalus' current naquadah/trinium hull with a carbon composite, it'd be much less appealing to the Shade."

Rafaela nodded and drummed her fingers on the table. "It would take a few months to do that, but it would also give us a chance to upgrade Daedalus' internal weapons bays. We could replace the missile launchers with Traveler Drone launchers, take out some of the lighter railguns and replace with heavier ones." Rafaela shrugged. "Really we could do just about anything we wanted. The ship is meant for the Milky Way and Pegasus. The Shade are just so unlike anything we've seen before."

Sam shrugged back. "Well that's not _exactly_ true. The replicators were mostly immune to energy weapons."

Radek raised a finger in exception. "The _bug-form_ Replicators. And there's a huge difference between nanites and a silicon based lifeform."

Marks winced and said. "The point is Particle Cannons and Asgard Beams don't hurt them enough. Just feeds the big ones and blows up the little ones. The Olim aren't a threat in a gloves off fight so Shade is what I'm worried about." Marks then pointed out the area where the modified forward Asgard cannons were attached. "I want to replace that with high powered railguns. You could probably repurpose the magnetic coils."

Radek scratched his own chin. "Hmm… not sure. Would need to see physical condition."

Marks nodded and hooked his thumb to the window, Sam couldn't help but notice how much more casual Kevin had become in the last year. "She's all yours. Just leave a few missile tubes for nukes." He turned to Sam and nodded. "You helped design her, so I know I'm putting _Daedalus_ into good hands."

Sam smiled, it was nice to get complimented without actually having done anything to merit it. "Thanks… I'll do my best." She blew a sigh and looked at the plans Radek now overlaid. The ship had a lot of changes to come and it wasn't going to be simple. Sam's attention was drawn to the door where Larrin suddenly appeared.

"Marks, we've got a situation. Daniel wants to talk to you down on the city."

Sam watched as Kevin gave Larrin a look, and then nodded. "Alright, gimme a few minutes."

Larrin narrowed her eyes, but moved off anyway. Sam bit her lip and then motioned to Radek. "I'll be back in a minute." She didn't care that the others watched her follow Larrin.

The hallway outside was cramped, the station was built incredibly solidly and Sam really couldn't think of why the Ancients wanted such a fortress. She pushed it out of her mind as she caught up to Larrin. "Hey, Larrin."

Larrin turned and looked at Sam. Sam noted just how different Larrin looked now, She'd straightened her hair and the dark robes gave her a very regal and formal appearance. Sam hadn't done much with Larrin's clothes since she'd given them to her – it didn't feel right to wear them. "You left in a hurry. What's up?"

Larrin shrugged and then began to walk again, Sam kept up beside her. "Just tired of waiting around. All we ever seem to do is wait nowadays."

"We _do_ need to make sure we make the right decisions." Sam tried to evade the touchy subjects. "Ever since we raided the Olim it'd been getting crazy, we want to make sure we don't do something that'll disrupt the peace in the city."

Larrin shook her head. "That's not my problem."

Sam stayed silent – Larrin was cutting everything down around her.. Sam didn't know what to do. So instead of direct, Sam decided to just go with the flow. "You had lunch yet?"

Turning to Sam with a hint of surprise. Larrin remained silent. A few seconds passed as they walked and she shook her head.

Sam nodded and then motioned forward to where the ring transporters had been installed. "Me neither."

* * *

John sat in Daniel's office waiting for Kevin to show up – the conversation wasn't something he was enjoying.

"Have you talked to her?"

John shrugged and shook his head. He played around with a little wooden spinny thing Daniel had on his desk. "No. We're not exactly on speaking terms."

Daniel nodded as he drummed his fingers on his desk. "You do realize how childish that is right?"

"Yeah."

It was obvious Daniel wanted to try and get through to John, but John wasn't in any condition to talk about It now. He just wanted to get the things that needed to get done done.

They both remained quiet, simply waiting for Kevin to show up and break the awkwardness. Eventually he did and he nodded to them both as he entered. "Gentleman."

John looked Kevin up and down; he looked so unearthly in his Traveler robe. He wondered what he'd done with the old 304 Jumpsuit. "Daedalus doing okay?"

Kevin sat down and nodded. "Yeah, Doctor Zelenka, Carter and Esposito are starting the reconstruction."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "I thought it was just a refit. Replacing some guns."

"No, it's _a lot_ more than just a few guns." Kevin leaned forward and explained. "It's just like Atlantis - Daedalus makes a tasty snack for the Shade. It's a huge job but it has to get done." Kevin sighed and shook his head. "It'll take months. But I'd rather rebuild it now while we have the resources and capability, than have Shade chasing us down like the did after Saudade."

Daniel and John gave each other a short glance. John realized that Kevin had a remarkable ability to foreshadow things. "You hear already?"

Kevin raised his eyebrows. "Huh?"

Daniel sighed and pushed forward his tablet with the information Chuck had collated. "The Olim might be trying to track us down."

Kevin took the tablet, looked at the information and clenched his jaw. "…How long ago did this start?"

* * *

Rafaela finished typing the final instruction to her tablet and sent the wireless signal. She peered out the window and saw the three Traveler Technicians in EVA suits turn and give her a wave. She smiled and waved back with a grin. The railgun mount they were cutting off could come in handy, She'd had an idea about how to help the newly forming Traveler and Settler teams going offworld protect themselves from wildlife around the gate and she needed a working railgun to begin drawing up a prototype.

"Rafaela?"

Rafaela turned around and saw Radek wheel up to her inside their shared lab. "Radek, what's up?"

Radek smiled and motioned to the window. "How's your team doing?"

Chuckling, Rafaela shook her head and moved over to the desk she'd set up. "They're not _my_ team. They just like working with me." Rafaela couldn't help but smile with her back turned to Radek, she had an idea what he'd say.

"Oh_ I'd_ say they're your team."Radek spun around and moved to in front of her desk where she now sat, a grin threatening to crawl across her face. "Ilias especially… He's quite taken with you I think – and not just because you're an attractive young woman."

Rafaela snorted at Radek's words. She'd never thought him capable of it before. "_Radek!"_

"It's true!" Radek shrugged. "Watch how he'll agree with anything you say. I'd say he wants to be more than just your protégé."

Laughing at Radek's analysis, Rafaela waved her hands in front of hre in a 'no' signal. "Ha-ha, stop Radek! Ha-ha! _Oh my god…_" Rafaela covered her mouth to hide her smile as she thought about it.

"I'm just telling you what I see." Radek chuckled and sighed. "There's nothing wrong with it Rafaela…I think you work too much in anycase. Take the rest of the day off – go see if you're right about Ilias or not."

Rafaela could feel her cheeks burning with blush – she sighed softly and tried to control the giggles. "You're not seriously telling me to go on a date with Ilias are you?"

Leaning back in his chair, Radek shrugged again. Rafaela noted that he'd been doing that a lot recently. "No. I'm just saying you should get out of the lab every so often. It's not healthy to stay cooped up in here all day."

"Radek…" Rafaela cocked her head, and saw that Radek wasn't just talking about Ilias. "I appreciate your concern. Really I do. But I'm _not_ dating Ilias and it has nothing to do with me spending too much time working."

Radek nodded idly. "That's fair, but you don't have your eyes set on anyone?"

"_No!_" Rafaela cried. "Well… okay I'm not going to lie, yes, but why is it so important?"

Radek took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Rafaela… you're a beautiful young woman with a brilliant mind. I would hate to see you stay in the lab because of a bad experience." Rafaela lost the grin on her face, but Radek didn't let her speak. "Wait, let me finish. I _don't know_ what happened, and it's none of my business."

Rafaela narrowed her eyebrows. "You're right. It _is_ none of your business."

Radek nodded, and finished. "But I _am_ your friend, and as your friend I do worry about you." He bowed his head, and then quietly said. "I'm here to be your friend Rafaela, and it's up to you what that means."

Raising her eyebrows in shock, Rafaela sputtered. "Uhhh… Radek… are you…?"

"_No no!"_ Radek held up a hand. "I'm not saying that. I…_appreciate_ your help. I'm just trying to even the balance, not tip the scale."

Smiling just a little at Radek's metaphor, Rafaela leaned back on hre chair. Truth be told she _did_ feel like she was missing out on something – especially when she saw Chuck and Laura or Daniel and Teyla. "Okay… but I'm _not_ dating Ilias. That's final."

"Well then…" Radek leaned forward conspiratorily. "Who?"

Rafaela couldn't help her grin. It wasn't often she got to think about the potential men in her life- especially not with Radek. "Well…"

* * *

Taking a quick swing at John with erh banto rod, Alicia spun around quick and deflected a weakly thrown counter. "So there's some Olim ship out there and it's asking for help?"

John held his banto rod in one hand – despite all her training, Alicia _still_ wasn't getting a hang of this melee form of combat. She preferred just a straight out punching fight. "Not exactly. It's a disaster beacon."

Alicla flexed her shoulders out as she flipped position and prepared to try and tag John on the arm. She knew just wearing a tank top was distracting him and she needed the advantage. "What's it do with me?"

John just smiled coyly as he circled her, he hadn't even taken his uniform off when he'd come to find her practicing. "You're no marine, but you get to play one now."

Alicia saw him snap forward and swing his banto rod at her, She blocked, spun, and tried to tag him in the gut. He moved out of the way easily and brushed his rod against her shoulder playfully. She jolted back and growled. "Do you have to insult me? I'm no jarhead." She motioned towards her hair in example. "I can't imagine cutting my hair."

John continued bouncing about, he seemed amused and into the friendly fight. "I can see it, you'd be a female R. Lee Emery."

Alicia narrowed her eyes and focused, she'd been insulted and she _demanded_ retribution. She feinted an attack forward with her banto rod, but spun her leg around the other way.

She managed to knock one of John's legs out from under him – he stumbled forward and brought his banto rod up in defense. Their parried and clashed, now mere centimeters away from each other. Alicia felt his hot breath wash over her neck, and growled in anger.

John pushed off her and waggled his leg. He shook his head and took a few deep breaths calming down. "Not bad. But seriously. Marks is going out to check out that signal and he'll need a team to go with him. Figured your old team would be a good mix."

Alicia relaxed her stance as John held his hand up in pause. She wiped the sweat off her brow and decided that she'd had enough PT for today. "Drake, Ella and Rey?"

John nodded and motioned her over to the little fridge they'd installed in the room stocked with water and other 'healthy' alternatives. "Yeah, and Marks wants Ally too."

Alicia stopped in her tracks. "_Aleron?_ He's still in his cell."

John nodded. "Daniel authorized it. Another reason you're all going, make sure he plays nice." John opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water. They'd been made using a Traveler plastic that was easily melted down and reused. "He'll be useful, just _please _don't antagonize him anymore." John gave Alicia a glare as he tossed her a bottle. "I'd hate to see you come back with another shoe print on your face."

Alicia blushed and covered her mouth. The bruise had faded but the humiliation would likely never leave. "Oh I'm going to _kill _him for that." She chuckled in amusement as she sat down. "Not today though. We worked things out a bit. I still think he's a prissy Cyclops, but I can deal with it."

John smiled and crouched to be on an eye to eye level with Alicia, she liked that he was so personal and casual like that. "Good, Marks wants to leave tomorrow morning so you might wanna get a good night's sleep."

"You're not coming." Alicia asked after taking a long swig.

"Nah." John shook his head and gazed off to the side. "I'd go with you but I've got to start setting up the Traveler and Settler teams."

Alicia sighed and pulled the bottom of her shirt up and wiped her face. "Guess we're in for a long ride huh?" Letting her shirt fall again, she hid her smirk at John's sly smile to her. She'd always been lean but it wasn't everyday she showed off her abs. "I'm hungry. You had dinner yet?"

John shook his head, but he seemed a bit distracted. "Nah… you buying?"

Alicia held her hand up for John to help her up. John took her hand and pulled. Alicia got to her feet and gave John a playful shove. "I'll go halfsies, just lemme swing by my quarters and get changed."

Despite his smirk, Alicia was disappointed John didn't make some pithy remark. Maybe she was over that side of her feelings, but _dammit_, it was still nice to play around. Maybe that whole fight with Sam had meant more than she caught on, and that more than anything made Alicia want to be just a friend – nothing more.

* * *

Standing on the outer docking pad, now surrounded by atmosphere yet as close to open space as possible, Larrin pointed out to the Traveler ship coming up towards the docking arm of _Lucy. _"There, that's Medai."

Kevin took in the sight. The Medai looked _old._ "When'd you guys actually build it?"

"About 300 years ago." Larrin scratched her temple. "Used to be a research vessel. We pulled up the hull from an old Lantean held planet and pieced it together with scrap."

Kevin nodded idly, and then narrowed his eyes. "You know, I always wondered where you guys got these ships."

Seeing that Kevin was saying more than he spoke, Larrin scoffed. "What? You didn't honestly think we had the resources to build ships from scratch did you?"

Shrugging around half-guiltily, Kevin said. "Well… yeah."

Larrin shook her head in slight disappointment. "When you've got the Wraith chasing you down, you slap it together airtight and pray it holds in hyperspace. You build it as you're on the run."

The ship moved slowly into place, and eventually secured a hard seal with the Airlock on the station. Kevin couldn't wait to get on board and see what kind of work the Travelers did. "Reminds me of doing homework on the way to class."

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	2. Chapter 2

"So what do you know about this ship, Rey?" Dan asked as he hiked up his pack. Reyna watched as he turned to her, and then to Alicia standing with her own pack. Rafaela stood with them with her lips pursed in nervousness, as well as Aleron who looked out of place without armor like the rest of them, just his Olim robes. Aleron looked particularly strange given that he has his arms crossed and hands hidden beneath opposite sleeves.

Reyna shrugged as she waited for the rings around the team to come down, and transport them up to _Lucy _from Atlantis' gate room. She shot a glance up to the control room, pushed it out of her mind and closed her eyes as the matter transmission zapped her.

Now on _Lucy, _the station around them looked dark and moody, but oddly well lit. It was a strange contrast that played tricks on her eyes. The carbon composite materials it was made of definitely intrigued her physics interested friends. Several Travelers manned the consoles around them; Reyna thought they looked like bubbly cheap versions of the ones on Atlantis.

She turned to Dan and gave an emphasized shrug. "Don't know. I've never been on it."

Rafaela turned to Rey and asked. "Really? Your ships pretty much look the same. Are the insides different?"

As a group, they began to move out towards the airlock where _Medai_ awaited them as well as fresh supplies. Reyna realized that the whole trip was probably going to be question after question and resigned herself to try and answer them.

That or she'd tranquilize them all with the meds in her pack. "Yes, while the exterior armor plating and secondary hull are similar, the primary hull is pieced together from ships we've found or salvaged."

Dan made a quizzitive noise in his throat, and asked. "Salvaged? I thought there weren't many space faring races in Pegasus."

Reyna was unwilling to shrug again, so she steered the conversation elsewhere. "Most of them are old Lantean hulks we've recovered. A few are different but I couldn't tell you really. If you're _that_ interested ask Larrin or one of the techs." She raised an eyebrow and looked to Rafaela. "Actually, you've been working with Ilias a lot lately, hasn't he told you anything about that?"

Rafaela blushed, Reyna had found a nerve to tease and even more, the others seemed to pick up even though they likely knew nothing. Rafaela turned to Reyna and said. "_No!"_

Dan raised an eyebrow. "So what _do_ you talk about?"

Rounding the last corner before reaching the airlock they were expected at. Reyna saw Rafaela hesitate a second before replying. "Not that it's any of your business, but we just work together."

Reyna checked her eye roll. Everyone _knew_ that Dan and Rafaela had had a 'secret' falling out, but they just made it so _painfully_ obvious. "We _believe_ you Raffa." Reyna chuckled as she spun to walk backwards. "I'm just teasing. Seriously I don't know all that much about ships other than my own."

To everyone's surprise, Aleron spoke up. "They why don't you tell us of that?"

It was just a long stretch now, a sloping hallway that led down to the Airlock where Marks and Larrin awaited them. Alicia opened her mouth to speak, but Reyna saw her quickly shut it. Reyna smacked her lips and said. "What do you want to know?"

Aleron shrugged. "What kind of living arrangements are there?"

Dan chuckled. "You're not bunking with me that's for sure."

Reyna heard the others chuckle as well except for Rafaela and Aleron. She gave Dan a cheeky grin. "Actually, we do our best to give everyone some privacy. It's hard when you've got four hundred people on a ship, but we do the best we can."

Alicia finally spoke, moving up to the front of the pack as she could see Kevin and Larrin waiting for them up ahead. "I'm guessing married couples get their own room?"

"Sometimes." Reyna nodded. "Depending on how many people are on each ship. If its crowded sometimes you only got a few days out of a month."

Dan grimaced and made an uncomfortable sound. "So what was 'not' private like?"

"Ohh… five, maybe six people in a room."

Rafaela shuddered and looked to Reyna. "That's creepy. I couldn't do that."

Reyna nodded. "I know, Daniel said he wasn't sure many people from Earth could. We're used to being in each others space; it's a fact of life. Atlantis almost feels like we're going to fall off and into the atmosphere." She motioned around the station with her free hand. "Why do you think so many of us moved here? It's more comfortable."

Ahead of them, Kevin Marks awaited with Larrin beside him, Reyna watched Alicia pull ahead and then set her bag down. The team silenced as she spoke. "Colonel Marks, request permission to come aboard?"

Marks smiled softly, Reyna could tell that he liked the attention to detail. "Granted. We've got a military sized crew so just find empty quarters and bunk in."

Larrin piped in. "Just watch your head; don't want to walk into a pipe."

Marks smiled in amusement, but Reyna gave him a strange look, the rest of the team seemed amused as well but she didn't understand. "What's so funny?"

Alicia's smile faded, Reyna could see in her eyes that she wasn't looking forward to more head injuries.

* * *

Kevin stepped onto the bridge of the Medai and instantly noticed the distinctively stronger metal smell. He coughed and used his sleeve to cover his nose, which drew a few chuckles from his crew who'd all taken their positions.

Larrin brushed past him and headed towards the front where the navigator station was. "Filters just got flushed so a little particulate matter's going to fly around. It'll pass."

Kevin cleared his throat and questioned exactly what he was breathing in – the possibilities were… _disconcerting_ to say the least. "Alright… everyone on board now?"

Larrin turned to Marks and nodded. "Yeah, most of the engineering crew's staying with Zelenka and Carter and helping with Daedalus." She then motioned to a large cylindrical device off to the side hanging from a ceiling. "We did bring the drones we've managed to build though; we have five of them just in case."

Marks nodded, but eyed the strange device. "What is that?" He moved over and examined it, the rest of the crew silently prepared to disembark. "Looks like a periscope."

"Huh?" Larrin got up from her seat and moved over. "It's the weapons targeting display. Medai doesn't have automatic targeting so we slaved the turrets to that control device. Rail guns or Particle Cannons, doesn't matter."

Marks blinked a few times, he'd only been on Traveler ships a few times preferring to lead from Daedalus. He couldn't decide if that had been a good choice, or whether he'd limited his exposure a little too much. "That's… great." He wrinkled his brow and shrugged. "Well then, let's get going."

* * *

Rafaela couldn't help but be amused. Everyone had made such a fuss about privacy on the Traveler ship for their 2 day trip to Saudade, but here they all were, joking around and playing cards – even Dan – in the room where Reyna and Dan had elected to bunk in.

She had to forget about it. It had been a mistake… an _amazing_ mistake, but a mistake nonetheless. So Rafaela bit the bullet and sat down a bowl with dried fruit and various nuts in the middle and the stack of cards in front of Dan. "Anyone else want something while I'm up?"

No one did, so Rafaela sat down. Aleron looked to Alicia and silently seemed to be communicating. Rafaela almost saw a telepathic connection form between the two, but said nothing. She often wondered what it'd be like to be telepathic but alas…

Dan cut the deck and looked over to Aleron. "You in?"

Aleron looked up at Dan, and then across to Alicia. "Am I?"

Rafaela had been suspicious over Aleron's silence and lack of armor or bags, but only now did she confirm it. Alicia sighed and pinched her nose. "Sorry. Marks said no."

Aleron flexed his arms, the tiny clink of metal underneath his sleeves just audible. "I see."

Rafaela winced in sympathy; she looked to Aleron and said. "I'm sorry, I know it's not much but at I don't think you're any danger to us."

The others shifted mildly uncomfortably, but Rafaela didn't care. Were she in Aleron's position of being a prisoner amongst the population, she'd want some reassurance. Aleron smiled and nodded softly to her. "Thank you, although I believe it will be quite awhile before I can regain the privileges I've had before." He flexed his arms again, straining against the handcuffs. "Like the privilege of scratching my shoulder in public."

Alicia groaned softly at the muted rebuke and rubbed her forehead. She spoke tersely. "Look Aleron, I don't think any of us want to see you like this. But we don't really have a choice and you have to admit, you _did_ go pretty crazy."

"And start throwing shoes." Dan deadpanned, which earned him a smack from Reyna despite her smile.

Aleron sighed and nodded. "Yes. I understand. Don't think I'm contemptuous over the situation. I fell victim to my own rage and have to pay the price now."

Rafaela hated this line of conversation. She _sorely _wanted to get off it and onto something happier. "Look, can we change the subject? Rey, we were talking about how these ships are built. What's different about this one compared to your own?"

Dan, Alicia and Aleron silenced, but it was obvious they wanted to speak more. Reyna shrugged and said. "Well… it's smaller for one. _Medai_ used to be a research vessel as far as I know. _Navras_ was an old Lantean corvette that we'd found drifting in a nebula."

Dan narrowed his eyes. "They look almost the same… how's that work?"

Rafaela could see the frustration in Reyna's eyes. "I'm a _doctor_ Dan, not a techy. You'd have to ask them to know for sure. All I can tell you is that things must have been pretty cramped in here."

Alicia squeezed her hands together and then looked to Dan. "Alright, we can talk about that all night. Deal!"

* * *

Kevin sat down on the bed in the cramped quarters, and looked up to Larrin. He was still a little uncomfortable with the thought of sleeping in the same room as her but then he remembered basic and thought about it in the same way he had then. "You slept in a room like this?"

Larrin moved to the opposite corner where there was a sink and quickly washed her hands. The room was like a jail cell but had privacy, and oddly enough two small cots. "A little bigger, but not much. I used to rotate with my command staff just to make it a little easier on us."

Kevin could almost taste the rust on the walls, but he said nothing about it. The bed wasn't that comfortable but he'd had worse in basic. "So you guys lived like this your whole lives… Atlantis must have seemed so much different. Hell the Aurora must have seemed like a godsend."

"We had people begging to be allowed to live there." Larrin sighed and then dried her hands. She slowly moved over to the other cot and sat down across from Kevin. "Most of the older folks especially."

Kevin nodded, but then realized something. "Yeah… actually, I had a question."

"Shoot."

It wasn't an easy question to ask, but not out of awkwardness. It was just difficult to word. "I…. well I'm just going to be blunt. I don't think I've seen _any_ older travelers. Nevas is probably the oldest and he's what? Almost forty?"

Larrin nodded and shifted back into the cot. She looked sleepy in Kevin's eyes. "Yeah, part of our population control."

Kevin was suddenly horrified with visions of Soylent Green. "What do you _mean_ population control?"

Larrin's eyes widened as she understood what Kevin meant. "We don't _kill_ them if that's what you're freaking out over." Larrin sighed and leaned her head back on the wall. Kevin could see she was so tired she was going to sleep in her robes. "When a Traveler gets around forty years old, they have a choice; they can go to an emptier ship if it's available and teach what they've learned for a few years, or we can set them down on a planet and leave them,"

Kevin was shocked. "You _maroon_ them?"

Larrin shrugged as if it were nothing serious to her. "Gotta make room for the kids. Usually they leave once the kid gets around 14 or 15. Sometimes it has to happen when they're younger but by then they know how to survive."

Speechless, Kevin bit the insides of his lips in thought. He contemplated it for a few moments and realized just how much sense it made. "Kinda reminds me of how spiders work." Larrin narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Spiders… you know? Eight legged bugs? Spins webs? Kinda creepy? Larrin shook her head in confusion. Kevin explained. "Some spiders on Earth work kinda on the same level, although it's a lot more extreme. The mothers will let the baby spiders eat her because they're not strong enough to catch prey on their own. Sort of a sacrifice to ensure they keep on going." Kevin grimaced. "Not that you guys would do that.

Larrin grimaced as well. "Thankfully I don't think we've _ever_ resorted to _that._ Pegasus had plenty of garden worlds and it wasn't hard to find food." Larrin now shifted over and laid down on the bed. "I talked with Daniel about it, he said you people might not understand but it's just normal to us. We call it the 'Last Landing'."

"Fitting." Kevin smacked his lips, and began to take off his robe to go to sleep. "So your parents left when you were a teenager?"

Larrin didn't reply immediately, but after a few moments, she shifted around on her bed to face Kevin. "No. _Navras_ had a few too many births in my generation… my parents did the Last Landing when I was four."

Kevin winced. "Sorry."

Larrin just shrugged."Why? I never really knew them. I can't even remember what they sounded like. How can I miss something I never really had?"

Bothered by the conversation, Kevin merely decided to end it. "Right… Let's just get some sleep. We'll be at Saudade late tomorrow and I wanted to make sure all the ships systems were running." Kevin pulled the little vial of sleeping pills from his pocket and pulled one out. He popped it in his mouth and swallowed it without water. He looked around, and couldn't see a light switch. "Uhh…how do we turn off the lights?"

* * *

Rafaela lay on her side on the cot, astonished that Aleron had decided to just stay on the floor in his meditative state. "Are you going to sleep like that?"

On the other side, Alicia lay on her own cot, snoring peacefully as she slept. Aleron had his eyes closed and it was difficult to tell if he was awake or not. Reyna and Dan had taken the room opposite and now with the lights dimmed, Rafaela was curious about Aleron.

Aleron spoke softly so as not to wake Alicia. "Not sleep. Sleep is for restoring physical condition. I'm just resting my mind."

Rafaela raised an eyebrow. "You don't need to sleep?"

"Not unless I'm physically _tired."_ Aleron opened his eyes and looked at Rafaela. "The mind and body are connected, but they're also separate. Reyna could explain to you better but unless I physically exert myself, I don't need sleep in the sense of unconsciousness."

Rafaela blinked a few times. "I can't tell whether that's handy or annoying."

"It's just who I am." Aleron sighed and closed his eyes again, regaining his meditative pose. "It's nothing _different_ about _me._ It's just that _we're_ different from _each other."_

Rafaela nodded softly and shifted about, getting more comfortable. "I getcha. I was just curious. I wasn't trying to offend."

"I know."

Deciding to dislodge the foot in her mouth, Rafaela shifted herself up and onto her hip and elbow, unable to sleep. "So you didn't seem that surprised at how the Travelers kept the population under control. Do the Olim have something similar?"

Aleron again opened his eyes at stared at her. "Why are you asking me all this?"

Rafaela sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Because I don't want you to think I think of you differently. You're just another person to me."

"I'm not."

"What?"

Aleron sighed and turned again to Rafaela. "I appreciate your concern. I truly do. But I'm _not_ one of you. I never will be. Just like the Travelers see nothing strange about their customs, I see nothing strange about mine nor yours." He shifted his body over and now faced Rafaela fully. "You're one of the more intelligent ones. You don't question my culture out of ignorance; you do it out of curiosity. Daniel and Carson are much the same." He took a deep breath in, and then said. "If your people were more like the three of you, perhaps the Menalus would have thought twice."

Rafaela thought about it for a second, and then blushed. "Did…did you just compliment me?"

Aleron gave Rafaela a very slight smirk. "In a way."

Laying back down on the bed, Rafaela sighed deeply. Aleron had always been polite and nice to her. She never really saw what Alicia detested in him. "Thank you. That means a lot." She chuckled softly, and then changed the subject. "Do you mind if I ask you something else?"

"You can _ask."_

Reyna had told Rafaela about how Aleron would say that whenever he meant that he might just not answer. So Rafaela worded her question carefully. "I understand that you see it as a different culture, but you _did_ seem confused over why we thought the Travelers' customs with their kids were kinda strange. That got me thinking, how _do_ the Olim take care of their young? I don't think I've ever heard anyone say they've seen Olim kids." Aleron remained silent, he seemed to want to answer but didn't for some reason. "Am… am I offending you?"

"No." Aleron muttered. "When I spoke with Daniel when I first arrived to Atlantis, we spoke of things like this. He emphasized that I should watch your culture and see the major points of difference, and to not speak of them. This is one of those points."

Rafaela was confused, but she understood what he meant. "It's okay. I was just…"

"…Curious." Aleron finished. "I know. I don't blame you."Aleron chuckled softly to himself and regained his meditative stance. "Perhaps if our people make peace one day, you can find the answer."

Rafaela yawned softly and finally felt tired enough to go to sleep. Oddly she didn't really care that Aleron was in the room. If Alicia, who'd been booted in the face by this man could sleep here, then so could she. "I'd like that. If there are more Olim like you then I think that just might happen one day."

Aleron remained silent, and Rafaela closed her eyes and pulled her blanket up to her neck. Tomorrow would bring Saudade and the possibilities of exploring an Olim ship were exciting. But unlike Aleron, she needed a good night's sleep.

* * *

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	3. Chapter 3

Kevin raised an eyebrow as he watched Aleron and Major Vega enter the bridge. Alicia was tired, she'd had a fitful night and waking up had been no better. "You two okay?"

Looking around, Alicia couldn't help but be a little disgusted at the state of the Traveler ship. The smell of body odor and metal intermixing on the bridge told her that some people just stayed her for days on end without showering. It was a dry air as well and her eyeballs were red. "Yeah, just… I'll never assume people sleep in beds again."

Kevin raised an eyebrow, saw Aleron limp forward and just forgot it. "Alright, we're about twenty minutes out from Saudade. Aleron you're gonna stay up here with me. Major Vega, you take your team to the hanger and take a shuttle. Ashima'll pilot you if there's anything worth checking out."

Alicia nodded. "Yes, sir." It was strange, she'd gotten so used to the casual nature of Atlantis that working with Marks made things seem almost uptight. She looked over to Aleron who gave her a slight nod. He'd be okay.

* * *

Larrin entered the bridge and brushed past Alicia, she hardly knew her, but she knew Sheppard and her were close. Maybe if Sheppard had taken over Daedalus things would have been different, but right now wasn't the time to think about it.

The bridge felt right. Daedalus was so clean in comparison. Hopefully the rebuilding process would change that and she could feel just as home there as here. Jalen got up as he saw her enter and offered his helm seat to her. Marks said nothing, but Jalen went to sit by him and prepare to exit hyperspace.

That Olim son of a bitch was here too. Larrin ignored him. With any luck she'd find something more important out there. She quickly ran a status check and called it out. "We'll be dropping out near the edge of the system. That should give us a chance to escape if need be." She still wasn't used to taking orders, but it was the only way. Marks needed to be in charge if the other were going to learn how to work like a strong cohesive unit. Marks' treatment of the ships like a fighter squadron was something she'd never thought of – covering each other and using evasive maneuvers and three dimensional swarming tactics… He'd even gotten the Traveler Technicians to begin work on building their own missile technology.

Marks was needed, Larrin knew that she wouldn't have been capable of doing what he did. He was a better leader too with the way he inspired her people with his anger, his revenge. If only the bastard would take it.

* * *

Marks pumped his fists and watched as the ship dropped out of hyperspace. The solar system lay ahead, a large asteroid field now dominating the area around the blue gas giant. Marks was reminded of how close the battle had been with the Shade months ago, but he pushed it out of his mind. This was today. "Start scanning, home in on that signal."

It didn't matter who did it, but he wasn't surprised when Larrin said. "Got it, it's in orbit of the gas giant where Saudade used to be. I'm picking up a lot of debris, mostly carbon based. The signal's coming from a ship though." She tapped a few buttons, and the screen zoomed in to reveal a large craft filled with holes and pockmarked with damage.

Aleron looked up from his standing position near Marks, he was still handcuffed be he didn't need to look for long to recognize it. "It's a _Hyparius _class destroyer. Likely it was part of a task force come to investigate the Shade presence here… Especially since Atlantis was here before."

Kevin nodded idly, and ordered. "Bring rail guns online. How much ammo do we have?"

Off to the side, Jalen monitored weapons and shields. "We've got five rail guns, two 50mm forward cannons, and three 20 mm turrets on top. We can take on Gremlins no problem but a Tinman might be a problem."

Marks shook his head. "We're here for the Olim. Recon only." He looked over to Larrin who didn't notice him. "That's why we brought the _research_ vessel right?"

Larrin perked up, realizing they were talking about her. "Yes, if we find an Olim ship we can take intensive scans. The other ships don't have the same sensor package."

Aleron grit his teeth softly. "As if you need it. My people's ships are fodder for yours."

Marks finally turned and looked at Aleron. "Something tells me that's not going to stay like that. So I want to be prepared. Now I want you to tell me everything you know about that ship."

Aleron remained still and hesitated, but nodded silently

* * *

"Alright, Beardy's gonna move in for a closer look and we're on point. Long as it's clear of Shade we're going in." Alicia briefed her team as they entered the Traveler Shuttle in the small hanger. Another pair of shuttles stood nearby along with something that looked suspiciously like a Jumper except not made of Lantean materials.

Rafaela furrowed her brow as she took a seat in the passenger compartment of the craft and watched Ashima move forward to pilot them. The layout was similar to a Jumper with a front piloting section and a rear compartment for cargo or passengers. It was nowhere near as clean as a jumper and there weren't drive pods, the engines were built into the hull.

Across from her, Dan and Alicia sat down. Rafaela looked at Alicia. "Beardy?"

Alicia snorted softly and shook her head. "Sorry. Colonel Marks. Still not used to him with a beard. He looks so…_mature."_

Dan chuckled softly and stroked his own chin. "Ah so you like the ticklers, huh?"

Alicia narrowed her eyes and smacked Dan's gut with the back of her armored fist. She had a hint of a smile though, and Rafaela wondered.

Reyna moved in carrying her field kit and sat down next to Rafaela. "Oh grow up Dan. If you and Alicia were going to get together you'd have done it by now."

Alicia resisted her laughs but palmed her face to hide the embarrassed smile. Dan blushed slightly and Rafaela couldn't help but feel mortified. "_Rey!"_ She couldn't help it and giggled. "I thought we agreed we were going to keep quiet about that."

"Huh?" Alicia perked up; Dan simply remained quiet as chaos reigned. "What was that Raffa?"

Rafaela felt her heartbeat racing, rarely did she get into gossip fights like this and she wasn't too sure how to win. "Oh nothing, just a little something me and Rey were talking about the other day."

Reyna furrowed her brow in annoyance. "How about a subject change?" Given that everyone was blushing, Rafaela agreed that it was the best thing to do. "Bets on what we'll find on the Olim ship?"

Dan finally spoke. "My bet, we'll find… Olim."

_"Dan!" _All three women chided. Rafaela blushed at the odd jinxed moment and felt a surge of adrenaline. She was finally getting over this stupid childish hump. "Could you be serious? We still don't know what happened. There could be Shade, Olim, or even some other alien we haven't seen before. What is it you soldiers say? Stay chilly?"

Alicia winced; Rafaela could see she'd gotten it wrong. "That's… _frosty."_

"Regardless…" Reyna cut in. "Rafaela's right. Once we get a good look at the ship, Aleron should be able to tell us enough to know what to expect." Reyna sighed. "If it's been attacked, it's likely there'll be bodies. Be prepared."

The blood drained from Rafaela's face, but she remained silent.

To her surprise, Dan looked at her and gave a sympathetic look. "Just breath Raffa. Long deep breaths. Oxygen'll help with any nausea."

Alicia nodded and looked up to the front where Ashima now started up the shuttle. "He's right, everyone stick to rebreathers." Alicia got up and moved into the pilot's compartment. "Alright, we're taking off; get your suits ready, we're going in."

Rafaela started taking deep breaths, she looked up to Dan who went from his casual hormone riddled smile to a frosty soldier she knew he could be.

* * *

"Definitely a _Hyparius._ Twin _Medegas_ Cannons and a heavily reinforced hull. Dozens of point defense cannons make it a strong frontline vessel." Aleron looked at the state of the craft as it listed in orbit of the gas giant. "It's the most versatile vessel in our fleet. Can be crewed by fifty, hold a hundred smaller interceptors, and over two thousand _Hellenas _or _Proteans._"

Marks raised an eyebrow."Protean? Isn't that what our new armor is called?"

Aleron shrugged. "It's the name the Olim give to our Alcaeus wielders."

"What about Hellenas?"

"You would call them Marines." Aleron narrowed his eyes as he saw a deep gouge in the Olim ship. "There, the engines have been badly damaged. They likely couldn't escape."

Marks clicked his tongue and finally decided. "Alright, since that ship is still there I'm assuming the Shade left it for some reason?"

Aleron shrugged."Typically they don't leave anything they can use behind. Survivors are rare. This is a unique situation."

Larrin turned in her seat and stared at Aleron. "You know a lot for someone who's just supposed to be a ground pounder. You serve on one of these?"

Aleron shook his head, there were so many things that he hadn't told the Atlanteans – he'd have to thank Daniel for warning him. "No."

Larrin looked disappointed, but Aleron could tell she wasn't about to interrogate him with Marks nearby. Marks tapped the communicator next to him and said. "Major Vega, you are clear to get in close, we'll cover you out here." He turned to Aleron. "Get a headset on and talk them through."

Aleron watched as a nearby Traveler pulled a headset from a small storage compartment and handed it to him. Aleron smirked softly and held his hands up with the cuffs. "I see."

* * *

"Alright, that looks like a hangar." Ashima began as she piloted the craft around, using inertia to keep up to the listing Olim ship. She couldn't help but be amazed. The Olim ship was _massive_. If they'd found it in Pegasus she could have spent her whole _life_ turning it into a home. "I'm detecting energy still in there; if we could recover a computer core we could get a bunch of information on them."

Alicia stood beside Ashima, both now suited up in body armor. Ashima aimed the shuttle's light at the broken doors of the hanger and tapped the communications button on her wrist now switching to her suits unit. "_Medai,_ this is Ashima. We're going in and heading down to the engine room. Any info would be good."

A few moments passed, and Aleron's voice came through. _"The engine room is open to space, wear your EVA suits."_

Ashima turned to Alicia and nodded. Alicia cracked her jaw and said. "Got it, you think we'll run into anything bad?"

_"What's your definition of 'bad'?"_

Alicia smirked. "Oh god, oh god we're all going to die?"

A few muted chuckles nearby, and Marks' voice cut in._"Quote movies later, get on that ship and tell us what you see."_

Alicia was confused, "Movie? What?"

_"Never mind." _Marks' said._ "There's actually a big enough hole near the engine room on your left. Land on the hull and go in that way, just in case anyone's left we can't detect."_

Ashima nodded idly to herself and scanned. "Got it. You guys can go in; I'm going to scan the ship from in here. Might go out and take some samples."

Alicia just took a deep breath. Ashima didn't envy the Major for the crazy missions she undertook.

* * *

"So, how did the Olim get the Shade to come to Atlantis?" Marks asked it tactfully, impromptu interrogations only worked on non-hardened military warriors – he needed to be Aleron's 'friend'.

Aleron sighed and crossed his arms as far as he could. "I don't know. I've never heard of that technology before." He turned to Marks – his expression telling the Colonel that he knew exactly what he was trying.

Larrin scoffed. "How can we be sure you're not lying?"

Aleron turned to her and showed of his gloves. "I wonder, did Reyna tell you about the Olim's telepathic ability? It's rather hard to lie when your feelings betray you."

"Really?" Marks mused. "Too bad we're not telepathic."

Aleron sighed. Marks could tell that the Olim was more than annoyed with how things were going in their diplomatic measures.

* * *

Reyna looked down into the hole in the side of the hull and tried not to pay attention to the vastness of space around them. The suit's magnetic boots kept her from flying off, but it was still creepy. Carson had explained that she suffered a minor case of agoraphobia, but standing on the hull of a broken Olim ship in a decaying orbit of a gas giant explained the fear –right? "Rafaela?"

Beside her, Rafaela had a strange looking gun in her hand. "What?"

"What is that?"

Rafaela looked to the sides, Alicia and Dan were behind her and Reyna noted they weren't looking all that comfortable. "It's a nail gun. I'm going to nail a cord here so we can find out way back once we get inside."

Dan shrugged and peered over the edge into the ship, exposed decks and floating debris around showed how brutal the attack had been. "Bread crumbs."

Rafaela turned slightly towards him and muttered. "Yeah."

Reyna took a few deep breaths, and then knelt down next to Rafaela. "Remember, deep breaths." She realized that she herself was getting nervous and brushed her hand against Rafaela's for both of their sakes.

Rafaela turned and nodded. She had a nervous smile. "Thanks. I'll remember." She fired the nail gun and was rewarded with a perfect hook for their line. "Alright, I'll hold the rope, who's first?"

Alicia stepped forward without hesitation and muttered. _"Face plant my ass…"_

Reyna watched as Alicia stepped off into the hole, shut off her magnet boots and gracefully fell into the exposed deck. Rafaela turned to her. "What was _that_ about?"

Reyna smirked as she recalled Sheppard's explanation for why Alicia kept getting hurt. "Just a lover's quarrel." She had to fight the laugh at Rafaela's _very_ confused expression.

* * *

"You don't think there'll be any survivors?"

Aleron shook his head, but groaned slightly as he felt a twinge of pain in his head. "No… typically survivors escape in jettison pods. They move fast enough to avoid being picked off."

Marks got up from his seat and looked at the ship ahead of the Medai, Aleron could sense his wonderment. There were countless rocks and simple debris all over. Was it all left over from Saudade? Aleron knew it was, whatever Olim ships had been destroyed here were just more materials for the Shade. Even the broken husks of Shade remained unless they were vaporized or collected. He'd supervised destruction of so much Shade material that it seemed inconsequential.

Aleron looked at Larrin again, even facing away from him he could feel her raw hatred and pain. Alicia had blunted asked him what the Olim did to her so many months ago. Aleron couldn't be certain but if her being from a completely different line of Progenitors meant as much to Menalus as it did to him, than certainly she'd been traumatized.

Was that his fault? Did he miss warning them of just how ruthless his people could be? _Were_ they even ruthless? Aleron couldn't figure things out anymore. What he'd been taught was truth had quickly become simple propaganda. He didn't believe anything anymore and all he wanted was to take care of those he still considered family.

The twinge of pain in his head continued. He didn't understand it, was the hatred for him in this room _really_ that powerful?

_"Colonel Marks, this is Vega, we're inside and heading towards the engine room, over."_

"Roger that, keep your video recorders on and describe what you see."Marks turned to Aleron. "Alright, let's see what you know about these ships."

Aleron fought the urge to sarcastically smile.

* * *

Alicia kept her particle rifle tight to her shoulder; this place was _nothing_ like she'd expected and worry flushed through her system. It was deathly quiet as her team's flashlights strobed down the narrow hallway "Anyone else feel a little claustrophobic?"

The dull flat metal walls on either side, a non-functioning light band at the top just like Alicia recalled from her recent attack on an Olim ship. Those Olim ships were a lot bigger inside though.

Dan muttered as she sidled up next to her covering her back with Reyna and Rafaela bringing up the rear. "This things like a giant chunk of metal. Who the hell designed it?"

Alicia was a little surprised to see Rafaela raise her voice. "Since the Shade can just absorb shield energy, It's not too surprising to see such heavy armor and hull bracing."

Reyna just looked around stupefied. "Huge waste of space. Materials too. They must have a _huge_ industrial capacity to build something like this."

Over the radio, Aleron muttered. "_The armor is not solid; it is a latticework of Naquadah and Trinium in a light weave. The Shade are not as interested in such a light concentration of the material, but it provides excellent protection from their attacks."_

Alicia grimaced as she spotted what could only be a smear of blood along the floor – no body was visible. "Obviously not enough. How can you send so many ships and people after the Shade? They obviously outnumber you."

A moment of hesitation, and Aleron's voice came through again. "_It's both our nature and our nurture."_

Dan raised an eyebrow, and followed the blood smear with his particle rifle at the ready. Nothing, but down the hallway was a large door that seemed to lead somewhere larger. "So it's who you are because it's your choice?"

Alicia kept quiet and just listened, keeping at the head of her team, she made sure that her focus was on her surroundings, not Aleron's annoying voice.

_"No, it's who we are because we don't know we have a choice."_

The door at the end of the hall flashed once with some kind of light. Alicia raised her rifle and aimed as did everyone else. "Hey! We just got some kind of light!" Alicia made some hand motions to Dan and they quickly took cover by the door jambs. The room inside was indeed much larger.

"_That is likely the primary cargo area surrounding the engine room. Check for bodies."_

Alicia heard Rafaela gulp, but couldn't shift her attention. "Alright, pair up and spread out, Raffa you're with me."

Dan shot her a quick glance, but then simply nodded and moved into the room.

Alicia quickly followed with Rafaela in tow and began to clear the room; it was the size of a small warehouse, filled with pods lining the walls and the odd crate on the floor. She scanned the area with her flashlight and gulped seeing nothing but a few empty crates. A thin haze permeated the air giving an unearthly feel to the quiet ship.

All Alicia could hear was the breathing of her teammates, her heartbeat, and what sounded like someone grinding their teeth. "There's no one here… how many people did you say would be on this ship Ally?"

Alicia noticed Rafaela give her a quick glance, and Aleron's voice cut through. _"In a situation like this, anywhere between a skeleton crew of fifty, to over two thousand." _Alicia spotted Dan and Reyna open a crate, and then move off not finding anything interesting.

A large portal nearby flashed again, Alicia guessed it was the engine room. "All we've found is a little blood, but it'd take us a few hours to explore the whole ship. Why would the Shade leave this?"

_"I don't know Alicia…"_ Alicia heard something that sounded like a scream from up ahead, but it was muted and didn't sound human. She held her hand up to hold Rafaela back and aimed as Aleron finished."_I don't know."_

"_Medai,_ we just heard something from the engine room. We're moving to investigate." Alicia waved hand signals to Dan and Reyna, both acknowledged and moved into a flanking position. Another flash came from inside and Alicia prepared herself for anything.

Slipping into the engine room quietly, Alicia could see that the room had taken structural damage. Support beams had fallen from above and created a minefield on the floor of trip hazards. In the center of the room, a large cylindrical object flashed from inside, Alicia guessed it was the engine itself. Alicia scanned the room with her flashlight and caught something reflective.

It was a person trapped under a support beam; they had a helmet on and was quivering about. "Shit! We've got a survivor!" The team quickly moved forward, brushing aside the smoke in the room. Reyna quickly moved ahead and pulled her field kit out. As they neared though the flashing began to strobe, and a strange screech came from the man who was trapped.

Alicia blinked and tried to focus, but the flashing lights and shadows all around her were very disorienting. She flicked her helmet's light reduction on and felt instantly better.

The Olim man who was trapped under the support began to screech and warble, the sounds coming from his mouth didn't sound human anymore, and Reyna backed off.

Alicia heard another screech though, this one from the cylinder where the flashes were increasing. She considered for a moment to investigate, but then decided to go with her instinct. "Evacuate! Everyone off this ship now!" She turned and waved the team into motion, her scream telling them there was no questioning her order.

* * *

Ashima looked at the strange honeycomb like structure of the armor plate she'd cut loose, It would definitely serve as great anti-penetration, but a particle cannon would just melt through it easily. The Olim seemed to have worked out impressive ballistics armor, but nothing her people couldn't have figured out.

_"Ashima! Warm up the shuttle! We need to get outta here now now now!"_

Ashima fell back on the training she'd gotten from Dan and then later Ronon; she pocketed the piece of the armor and turned back to the ship. "Copy! What's wrong?"

* * *

Marks watched as he tried to signal again. "Major Vega! Come in!"

Again, silence. Marks turned to Aleron who stared unblinkingly at the screen. "Do you know what's going on? Why would we lose contact?"

Aleron didn't reply, and Larrin muttered. "Like he's going to tell us."

Marks turned a glare at Larrin who merely smiled sarcastically back. He then looked at the screen and watched the small Traveler shuttle take off, still out of communications for some strange reason. Looking back at Aleron, he saw a very strange and worried look on the Olim's face. "What? What is it?"

Aleron swallowed as he looked at the ship, Marks could see the veins on his neck pulsating. "We need to go. _Now."_

Marks narrowed his brow and decided to get to the bottom of this. "What do you mean 'we have to go'?" Aleron didn't reply, and Marks growled. "Wait; if you have Intel I want it."

* * *

_"Quiet, Beardy!"_ Aleron snarled, the twinge of pain had increased and turned into a muted screech, he'd heard that kind of mental scream before but only in the darkest moments of his life.

Marks did a double take at Aleron's words, but before he could say anything, the screen flashed as the Olim ship detonated. Aleron didn't blink as he watched the Olim ship begin to cave in on itself, the armor plating sucking in as if a gravity well had appeared in the center. No one on the bridge said anything to the spectacular sight.

The dull gunmetal of the ship tore apart, slowly compounding into a singular mass. In the space of a few seconds it had reached the size of Daedalus. The shuttle zoomed away to the side, heading towards Medai.

And then the Olim ship stopped shrinking, and after a moments pause exploded in a huge shower of debris like a fragmentation grenade revealing a large glowing Shade creature underneath.

Aleron watched the Travelers begin to react, but it was too late. The ship rocked as a large piece of debris impacted the ship punching a hole clean through it. Aleron remained still, even as the lights flickered and finally died amidst the cacophony of screams and barked orders.

* * *

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**A/N:** As a special treat, here's a little thing Choo1701 made for this episode ;) Just delete the spaces :)

http : /i11 . photobucket . com/albums/a196/Aragon101/DarkFrontierPage . jpg


	4. Chapter 4

"Running running running!" Ashima muttered as she piloted the Traveler shuttle behind a large rock floating near the Olim ship for cover. Alicia was in the seat beside her with the rest of the team in the back. "Hold on!"

The nimble craft pulled an intensely strong turn that pushed its used inertial dampeners to the limit and pancaked the team to the wall. Dan cried out. "_Whoa! _Where'd you learn to drive Ashy!"

Ashima grit her teeth and dodged a shard of what looked like metal armor plating that zoomed past the shuttle. "Shut up shut up shut up!"

* * *

Marks groaned in pain and rubbed his head. The smell of smoke and sticky feeling on his face told him they'd been hit – _hard._ "Report!"

The bridge was in chaos, a bulkhead had broken open and a beam had fallen down smashing a console apart. Jalen gritted his teeth as he lay beneath it - his leg caught under. Larrin had already recovered and piloted the ship, moving steadily away from the Shade which looked strangely gray. Aleron got up from where he'd been thrown, and looked around at the chaos. Marks yelled. "Report goddamnit!"

He ran over to where Jalen was trying to pull the beam off his leg, blood seeped out and Marks knew he needed medical attention. The two other people on the bridge were hard at work, and Larrin finally screamed. "We've taken heavy damage! Rail gun 3 destroyed and power grid is badly damaged! Shields are up but they won't last long." She turned and grimaced seeing Aleron move over to help Marks. "That Shade is following us and engines are down to fifty percent, automatic targeting is down, I need someone on that gunner station!" She pointed to the periscope like device.

Marks grit his teeth and tried to lift the beam, but wasn't strong enough. Aleron came up and looked down. Marks looked up at him and scoffed. "You just gonna stand there or give me a hand?"

Aleron rattled his handcuffs together. "A bit _shackled_ at the moment."

"I don't have the key!" Marks couldn't believe Aleron, Jalen was delirious with pain now and the one of the two medics on the ship finally arrived to the bridge.

"But if you did you'd let me go?" Aleron insisted.

"_Yes!" _Marks couldn't take the Olim's attitude anymore. "Now help me get this thing off him!"

Aleron took a deep breath, and gave out a sharp cry as he literally yanked the handcuffs apart at the chain with his bare hands. One of the small links of the chain bounced off Marks' chest. "Believe me now?"

Marks remained quiet as Aleron now helped him lift the heavy beam off Jalen enough for the Traveler to drag himself out. Maybe he'd assumed a little too much, but that was for later.

* * *

Alicia smacked her fist into the console. "What do you _mean_ there's no guns on this thing?"

Ashima moved the ship out from behind the cover of the large rock, and saw the strange looking Shade chasing after Medai which still wasn't firing back despite leaving a trail of smoke and debris. "It's a _shuttle._ We use it to ferry supplies and people, not shoot at things!"

Reyna stood behind Ashima and pointed out. "Where the hell did it come from? It's way too big to have been hiding inside the Olim ship."

Ashima watched as Rafaela pushed Alicia out of her seat and took control of the console. Alicia didn't say anything but obviously Rafaela had an idea. "What are you doing?"

Rafaela began to check the sensor package. "I'm linking telemetry to Medai. I think I know how that Shade showed up so suddenly."

Reyna moved over from behind while Dan just breathed heavily and leaned back against the hull. Ashima saw the blood seeping out of Dan's face and realized she'd fond his Achilles heel. "Should I go in for a closer look?"

_"No!"  
"No!" _Both Alicia and Dan barked.

"Yes!" Rafaela spat back. Reyna checked the sensors herself and nodded idly. "We might not be able to fight that thing, but Medai's been badly damaged. They need all the help they can get."

Alicia rubbed the tension in her forehead. "Before you do anything, _what_ are you talking about?"

Ashima moved the ship into a position ready to go, she zoomed in on her screen and watched Medai finally open fire, but only from its turrets and not its forward cannons. It'd take sustained fire to damage the Shade which was about half as small as Daedalus. "I'm holding, I don't wanna get close to that thing either." Ashima tapped a few buttons and lowered the power signature of the craft by shutting down non-essential systems.

Reyna spoke in a surprised tone. "Oh my god… that Shade. It's made of the same materials the Olim ship was."

Ashima raised her eyebrows in surprise. "What?"

Rafaela nodded. "It's true, I'm detecting a much denser concentration of Naquadah and Trinium, but its in the same proportions as the Olim ship. The Shade must have somehow absorbed it all at once somehow."

Alicia smacked her forehead as if struck dumb. "_That's it!"_

Rafaela turned in surprise to her. "Sorry?"

"The flashes! The Shade must have been tapping into the reactor." She then shrugged. "Right? I mean that makes sense right? They absorb energy so…"

Rafaela sighed and squeezed her chin in deep thought. "It could be… we'd need to see it happen."

Reyna shook her head. "No, that's _exactly_ what must have happened. Don't you remember back when we first showed up in this galaxy and Daniel brought back that genetic cousin to the Shade? Once it absorbed the energy from a Particle Magnum, it started absorbing minerals and the metal of the walls wherever it touched. It eats by touching so with that much energy, it must have been able to process that entire ship at once!"

Behind them, Dan muttered. "So that thing just ate an entire ship in seconds?"

Alicia nodded in realization. "It makes sense. That's why the Olim never found any survivors." Alicia took a few moments, and then nodded. "What can we do?"

* * *

Marks spun the periscope aiming device around and targeted what looked like an arm. He depressed the two triggers on the handles and saw sprays of 20mm rail gun fire flew out and connected, tearing chunks of the strange looking Shade's armor off. He shifted about, as Larrin continued to pilot the Medai evasively to avoid the rocks in front of them. "Keep in front of it! That thing catches us and we're dead!"

Behind him, Aleron helped the medic pull Jalen onto a makeshift stretcher to take him away. He'd used a piece of his robe to tie off the crushed bloody injury. "Aim for the joints! Its the weakest area!"

Marks kept the crosshairs on the target as best he could and fired another burst. The solid slug rounds sped across, but just weren't doing enough damage. "Dammit! We need the main cannons! Larrin, Spin us around to get a good shot!"

Larrin ignored the order and instead used the ship's thrusters to move closer to the planet. "That thing _touches_ us and we're gone! Just keep shooting! I got an idea!" Larrin touched her headset and barked. "Engineering! Status on Hyperdrive?"

Marks heard over the radio as the chief engineer replied. _"No good! That thing took out the main gravity converter for the hyperdrive, we're lucky we still have _any_ power!"_

"_Wraith shit!_" Larrin hissed. "What about the prototypes? Did they make it?"

Marks let go and looked over at Larrin. "What prototypes?"

Larrin grit her teeth, and the engineer's voice replied. "_We've got four left. No way to fire them though." _

Marks narrowed his eyes and realized that Larrin had been planning. The Olim ship would have made a perfect target… and served as a perfect place keeper.

* * *

"Okay, I was right – The Shade used the energy it absorbed from the Olim ship to metabolize the hull itself at a rapid rate." Rafaela now triangulated with Medai's advanced sensor package and clicked her tongue. "It looks like it used to be a Gremlin but... it's _huge_ now. Almost as big as a Tinman."

Reyna made a strange sound in her throat – the thought of how evolution worked made her head spin. "We knew that they naturally grow to those sizes over time, but I guess having all that refined material around as well as the energy required to metabolize it…"

"What?" Dan muttered from behind Reyna. "Metabolize?" He screwed his face. "So that's just a really fat Shade?"

Reyna shrugged. "More or less." Reyna scratched her nose which itched from the fine sheet of sweat on her face. "I don't think Medai has the firepower to take that thing on, it's just too dense. We need to find some way of penetrating its armor and damaging the inside, that's the only way we'll be able to kill it."

"Why doesn't it just leave?"

Reyna shook her head."Doesn't have the power. It just used the majority of its energy growing like that, I'm not detecting enough power from it to generate the gravity field needed for a hyperspace window." She turned to Rafaela. "Right? I'm guessing that."

Rafaela just nodded as ehs continued to take deep sensor scans.

Silence around Reyna, and Ashima finally muttered. "I don't suppose any of you carry nukes?" Reyna gave Ashima a glare to which she shrugged. "Right, my bad."

Rafaela on the other hand cleared her throat. "Ummm well actually…It may not be a nuke but I think it might be able to help us here." Reyna and the others turned to her, Rafaela shrugged. "We brought a few prototype Traveler Drones with us. We were hoping to test the propulsion system but I don't think Medai can fire them properly."

Alicia stepped forward and pointed to where Medai now narrowly dodged hitting a large rock, the Shade behind it ignoring it and simple smashing it aside as it drifted towards Medai. "Get us on Medai _now._ They won't last long and we're better off helping them then sitting out here."

Reyna gave Alicia a sidelong glance, and was pleasantly surprised when Alicia didn't hesitate. Reyna liked it when Alicia got all badass.

* * *

"Larrin! That thing's almost on top of us!" Marks screamed as he continue to pour fire onto the Shade from the two turreted Rail guns. It just wasn't enough firepower. "Listen carefully, I want you to do an Immelman but cut the engines halfway, let our inertia keep us moving away but give our main cannons a good shot!"

Larrin was already having enough trouble using what little thruster power there was left to run away, turning around would give the Shade a perfect shot – but it was the only way. She programmed the course into the computer and said. "Engineering says they've got the four drones ready. You need to mark out a target and feed telemetry once they're clear!"

Larrin heard Marks grumble softly but he prepared nonetheless. Aleron now walked up to Larrin and nodded. "Let me take control. I can react faster."

"What?" Larrin clenched her teeth in anger. "Fuck you! I'm not giving you control!" Aleron cocked his head in surprise.

Marks on the other hand had noticed. "Give him the goddamned controls! I need you to see to the crew!"

Larrin _almost_ complained, but decided against it. She instead looked at Aleron for a moment, and then spit on him before walking away. Marks didn't notice but Aleron calmly wiped his robe off and took control of the ship's flight. "Marks! I'm going to spin us around but we're likely going to hit some rocks! How strong are these shields?"

Marks shifted his body over and fired again, this time aiming for what he thought was the Shade's face. "Not strong enough!"

Aleron sighed softly and muttered under his breath. _"I see…"_

* * *

"Aren't we getting too close?"

Alicia grit her teeth – Dan was getting frustrating and this was _not_ the time to mess with her. "No."

The Shade wasn't far off, but the shuttle was moving on inertia instead of its engine. Dan insisted. "Cuz all we have are a few TAGgeRs."

"I know." Alicia ignored it, snapping at Dan wouldn't inspire confidence. "We're going to try and get to Medai and see if we can get those drones to work."

"We already know they _work. _It's not a complicated science behind it." Rafaela mused, her eyes fixed on the Shade through the window slowly drifting towards Medai. "We just haven't tested the propulsion systems properly. For all we know…"

"_Shit! Look!"_ Ashima screamed as she lit up the thrusters and pushed away. Alicia hung onto the chair in front of her with one hand, and steadied Reyna with her other. Dan stumbled back and into the passenger compartment, cursing all the way.

Medai had begun to spin around upwards, but shut its engine off and coasted on its inertia. The Shade began to pick up speed ignoring the rail gun shots tracing towards it. The Shuttle holding the team wasn't far off but with Medai in evasive maneuver, it was too dangerous to get close.

"What in _core_ are they doing?" Ashima muttered.

Alicia just blinked; the Travelers had some _strange_ epithets.

* * *

Kevin switched targeting cameras to the forward guns and signaled for the engineering crew to throw the drones out of the hangar. "Left! Left! Aim at the center!"

Aleron shifted the piloting stick and eased Medai into position, the shields marked hit after hit as the small asteroids impacted taking them down slowly.

Kevin wiped his brow with his sleeve, and finally got a good tone. "Hold on!" He depressed the triggers and held on, the ship rocking as the two forward heavy cannons fired their payloads. The heavier trinium slug shells slammed into the Shade, shattering large craters out of creature in a spray of shrapnel. Kevin got a signal from three of the four drones that had been ejected in the maneuver and sent off the needed telemetry.

The three Traveler Drones began to flare up as their subspace taps began to soak up energy, and oriented themselves at the Shade creature. They glowed eerily red as Kevin watched them begin to move.

* * *

"Look! They shot the drones!" Alicia pointed. Rafaela grimaced as she hoped that hey worked properly. "Are they gonna blow up?"

Rafaela shrugged about. "Eventually, that's how they're designed. They use a subspace tap and an inertial amplifier."

Ashima turned to Rafaela with a stunned expression. "_Amplifier?"_

"Yeah, they use the energy to increase their mass using an ion created-" Rafaela paused. She was getting into the heavy science of it and she knew the others might not understand her. "They get heavier and build up massive inertia. The longer they travel, the heavier they get. Eventually they-"

_"Go boom."_ Dan muttered as he clambered back to the front of the ship, he held his head as if he'd bumped it. "How long do they take?"

Rafaela shrugged. "That's what we were going to test."

Ashima shook her head zoomed in on the drones which began to spin now and glow brighter. "Let's hope they work right."

Rafaela watched with baited breath as the drones picked up speed, and after a few moments of flight, slammed into the Shade. Instead of exploding, they made large clean holes as they easily punched through the Shade. The creature shuddered from the hits, added to the heavier rail gun shots slamming into it.

Rafaela smiled as the Drones punched out the other end leaving a trail of acid and broken crystallized metal. The Shade crumpled from the hits, but it still moved slowly towards Medai which now tried to reorient itself under impact of dozens of floating rocks. "We can probably make it to Medai now, we should-"

Ahead of them in space, the Shade suddenly spasmed and swung one of it's arms forward towards Medai. Rafaela gasped as the Shade literally released the forward section of its arm like a missile, heading right towards Medai. The ship desperately tried to move out of the way, but it was futile.

The Shade's missile arm grazed the front section, penetrating into the aft and tearing one of the engines off. Rafaela's gullet sank as she saw atmosphere and debris spew out of the Medai, the ship fully crippled from the hit. "Oh my god…"

* * *

Larrin had heard the 'incoming' and knew something bad was coming. Marks wouldn't have called it out if it was something the little power the shields had left could have stopped. The medical bay was deep in the ship, but if the hull was penetrated… "Brace for vacuum!"

She scurried over to the bulkhead door and had just gotten a hand on the jamb when the ship rocked. The hit threw her up and into the air, the dozen or so wounded crewmembers screaming as they flailed about. Larrin slammed into the wall, and then felt the air begin to move around her. "_Decompression!"_

The air began to roar, the hull had been penetrated and shields were too damaged to make a containment field. Larrin clawed at the wall trying to hold on as the air began to pull at her. She reached up and slapped the wall, desperately trying to hit the close button for the door.

Something smacked into her side as it was sucked out, Larrin couldn't tell what it was but it _hurt._ She ignored the pain even as she felt a piece of metal slice across her face leaving a bleeding wound. She stretched and felt her tendons struggle against the decompression.

Finally she slapped the button closed, and the door dropped with a hard screech as it grinded against the metal of the bulkhead. As it closed, the vacuum stopped and Larrin dropped to the floor. She breathed heavily, glad that the Traveler ships were built with redundant life support systems.

She knew people had died - There was no question about that. So she pushed it out of her mind and simply got up to continue helping the medics.

* * *

"Oh shit…" Ashima muttered as she watched Medai begin to spin out of control, the Shade was equally damaged, but it continued to move forward even as it spewed its innards. "How the hell did that _not_ kill that thing!"

Reyna looked through the zoomed camera and shook her head. "It hurt it. But it didn't do enough damage to the innards, it's still alive and if it can get a hold of Medai…"

Ashima gulped, memories of Hylea came to her and she shook her head. "We need to stop it. We've got ten minutes before it gets close enough – I won't let that thing kill Medai_." _She turned to Reyna, but noticed everyone looking at her. "What'll it take to kill that thing?"

Reyna pursed her lips, and then breathed out calmly. Ashima could see Reyna was trying top keep control too. "We need to detonate something inside the Shade. The thick skin will hold the explosion inside and kill it from the inside."

Alicia pointed out to near where Medai was. A single red light floated about without any movement. "There. That drone didn't fire right. Any hope we can get it moving?"

Ashima saw Rafaela gulp, and knew that despite how dangerous the situation was already, it was just going to get worse.

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5

"Leesh…" Dan muttered as he watched Ashima pilot the shuttle into position to grab the still active Traveler Drone. He held onto the jamb of the bulkhead, almost worried about having to hold on

Alicia turned to him from the front compartment where she stood over Ashima's shoulder. "What?"

Dan took a few deep breaths and then put his helmet on. "I go down, make sure no one steals my shit. It's yours." He double checked the airtight seals and nodded. "Split it up 'tween you, Ella and Rey."

Alicia gave him a surprised look, but Rafaela just brushed past towards the back compartment from her passenger side seat and muttered. "Please, save the melodrama for after we find out if we're gonna die." She pushed past Dan, putting her own helmet on.

Dan was surprised to say the least, and he turned back to Alicia. He hooked his thumb over to Rafaela and gave Alicia a quizzical look.

Alicia just shrugged. All in a days work.

* * *

Kevin coughed and tasted copper in the back of his mouth. His eyes were burning from the smoke, but it was quickly clearing up – good, that meant life support was still functioning. As Marks looked around though, he saw that little else was. The lights were all but gone and the only light left was from the screen which flickered with static.

The other two Travelers in the room were dead. One had been impaled by a piece of bulkhead and the other electrocuted. Marks grit his teeth at the mess the bridge was in. To his surprise, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, are you alright?"

Pulled to his feet by Aleron, Marks felt the walls go topsy turvy and stumbled. Aleron caught him, and Marks finally got a look at him.

His bandana was gone, his gouged eye visible. Marks grimaced seeing the claw like scar the bandana had covered and squirmed out of his grasp. "What? Yeah yeah. I'll be fine." Marks breathed deeply, he likely had some minor injuries but he didn't feel anything serious. "The hell was that? It _threw_ that thing at us."

Aleron turned around and searched on the ground. Marks could see he was looking for his bandana and ignored it. Aleron replied absentmindedly. "I don't know. I've never seen a shade do that before either."

Marks began to go console to console, searching for some kind of connection outside the room. He looked over to the exit and saw that the bulkhead door had slammed shut. Automatic in case of decompression. The ship was likely adrift and powerless beyond batteries, he had no clue how long _those_ would last.

Aleron finally found his bandana and slipped it back on, he then joined Marks at the next console. "Do you have escape pods? Something we can get away from the ship with?"

Marks shook his head, and pried open the console with his bloodied fingers to try and figure out if there was something wrong, or power was just gone. "No."

Aleron made a disappointed sound, but said nothing as Marks continued to try and work their way out of the situation.

* * *

Rafaela could feel her heart pounding against her ribcage. This was _by far_ the most dangerous thing she'd ever done and it was showing in the way her hands shook. The Drone right in front of her was still collecting energy, still edging towards critical mass. She felt the steel cable attached to her back go taut, and just barely she caught a hold of the drone. "Alright… I've got it. We need to tow it down to the ship."

Behind her, Dan and Reyna began to pull her towards the shuttle once she'd tied the cable around the Drone using the shuttle's winch. It was unbelievably eerie to be floating in space with an active drone in front of her. The stars looked so pretty and the blue planet beside them even more so. Rafaela could make out the swirls of the storms on the planet... Alicia spoke over the radio. "_Alright, are we just going to throw this thing at it or…?"_

Rafaela grimaced as she felt her suit's magnetic plates take over to allow her to grip onto the ever increasing mass of the drone. "Not exactly… we're going to use the Shuttle as a carrier for the drone."

_"Sorry what? I didn't exactly understand that."_

Huffing in annoyance, Rafaela dumbed it down to bare basics. "The propulsion system on the drone is fried, we've got maybe two or three minutes to load this thing onto the shuttle and fly it into the shade."

Nearing the shuttle now, Rafaela felt Reyna and Dan's arms take hold of her. Dan spoke in a terrified tone. "You want us to fly _into_ that thing!"

Rafaela turned, looked right at Dan and held back an icy word. "No… at least not exactly. We need to get close enough to be able to push the drone through one of the open wounds; it'll explode soon so the faster we do this the further we'll be."

Reyna finished pulling in the tied drone and muttered breathlessly. "How big of an explosion are we talking about?"

Rafaela shrugged, the math she'd done with Radek needed practical testing. "Uhh a little under a megaton give or take." Seeing the blood drain out of Reyna's face, Rafaela held her hands up as she doubled over to catch her own breath. "Don't worry, it's very localized. As long as it's inside the Shade, both us and _Medai_ should be safe." She looked out the window and saw the crippled Traveler ship still venting atmosphere and drifting slowly towards the Shade with an outstretched arm.

Alicia came in the back and gave the floating drone a nervous look. "Let's just do this, my day's bad enough _without_ nukes."

* * *

"You should enhance your calm. There's nothing we can do and panic will only exacerbate the problem."

Marks growled softly in Aleron's direction. The bulkheads were sealed shut, and there was only minimal power to life support. There was no way to tell what was going on outside, or whether the Shade had survived the barrage. Marks turned to Aleron who sat with his back to the floor near the front screen. "Do you _always_ talk like a monk? Is that how you _Olim_ are taught?"

Aleron shrugged. "Not exactly. That's from a movie Sheppard showed me from your home world. He said it reminded him of the Olim - Demolition Man."

Marks scoffed, he couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "Demolition Man? Stallone?" He gave up trying to pry the door open and shook his head. "Are you going to help me or are you just going to _sit there?"_

"Meeting your death on your feet is overrated."

Marks bowed his head and slid along the door to the floor. "Great. I'm gonna die and all I've got as company is a _goddamned Olim."_

Aleron raised his eyebrow and looked at Marks on the wall opposite him. "You think your deity hates me?"

Marks palmed his forehead and decided that Aleron wasn't the damned one, _he_ was.

* * *

"So how heavy is this thing?"

Rafaela shrugged at Reyna's question. "Depends how high the gravity's set. Its _mass_ is something else though. We'll need to use the shuttle to tow it into position." Rafaela made sure the steel cable had a good hold, and then turned back to the front compartment where Ashima and Alicia were waiting. "Okay, what we need to do is drag the drone behind us and slingshot it into the hole."

Ashima turned to Rafaela and gave her a stunned glare. "What! Are you serious?"

Rafaela nodded. "It's the only way. The only other thing I can think of is overloading the Shuttle's engines inside the Shade. Same deal, big boom."

Ashima shuddered and began to push forward. The steel cable went taut and the drone dragged behind the Shuttle by a few meters. "Alright…Can't say I've ever done something like this…"

Rafaela felt the engines begin to strain, towing the heavy artificial weight of the drone was pushing them to their limits."Come on! We need to move faster! It'll only be a few minutes for the drone to detonate and we need to get clear!"

Ashima grit her teeth and pushed the engines to the maximum. "Going going going!"

* * *

"Is that how you treat your own people? You torture and kill them?"

Aleron didn't know exactly how to reply. There were things that the Atlanteans didn't need to know, and others that they _shouldn't_ know. "Does that offend you?"

Marks clenched his fists; Aleron could see he was struggling to hold his rage in. "Doesn't that offend _you?"_

"Not the way you think." Aleron replied. "You're putting your own beliefs before my culture. No we don't torture our own people. But we're the only ones we thought existed. You're alien to us."

Marks didn't reply - he just sat there in contemplation.

* * *

"By the ancestors… how _heavy_ is that thing?" Ashima noted that the structural integrity of the shuttle was at maximum strain, the engines barely moving them with the drone in tow.

Rafaela called from from behind them where she worked out a trajectory for Ashima to follow. "Heavier than the last time you asked!"

Ashima gritted her teeth as she followed the trajectory to sling the drone into the Shade's wound "30 seconds to target!" She scoffed softly; they were close enough to hit it with a thrown rock the shuttle was going so slow.

Alicia sat down beside her in the passenger side seat and took control of the quick release for the steel cable. "Alright, once we cut this thing loose, run. No telling how big this bang is going to be."

Ashima nodded and piloted into the final approach vector. It wouldn't be much longer… "This has got to be the slowest bombing run ever…"

Behind Ashima, Rafaela finally screamed. "Alright! Let it go! It's nearing critical mass!"

Alicia didn't hesitate; the Shade was so close Ashima could have spit on it. "Fire in the hole!"

The cable snapped violently back as it released, Dan, Rafaela and Reyna having taken cover. The Drone lazily spun on its inertia spinning the cable still attached like a whip. Ashima quickly pushed ahead, now skimming the edge of the Shade creature shunting aside the debris left over from the attacks prior. The engines suddenly cut out, and slowly they moved away instead of the speedy escape she wanted. "_Wraith hold me... _The engines are overheated! We're adrift!"

She turned and looked into the back compartment where the door slowly began to close, unlike a jumper, the doors slid together from the sides instead of extending out in a ramp. The drone drifted into the hole of the Shade, and moments later detonated.

The shockwave shook the ship, everyone grabbing a hold of whatever they could. A plume of flames spat out from the hole in the Shade, then the other holes in the creatures armor as the explosive spread and burned the Shade from the inside out. Ashima grimaced as she heard a horrible screech in her head, a death rattle beyond her comprehension.

The explosive force widened the gap and sent a spray of shrapnel out, some of which flew into the back of the shuttle before the doors could close.

Ashima jerked to the side as a large spike of broken Shade armor – a strange grey blue shard – flew into the cockpit and lodged itself several inches into the control panel short circuiting it. Several screams in the aft compartment, and she and Alicia jumped up to see what was going on.

The doors had closed, and the sound of debris pinging off the shuttle's hull gave a strange sense of rain. But Ashima gasped at what she saw. Rafaela had a shard the size of a small pipe impaled through shoulder as she doubled over in pain, while Reyna attended to Dan who'd taken a shard to the leg.

With the control panel in front destroyed, there was little Ashima could do now, she simply stood by as Reyna used her med kit to treat Dan who howled as the acid drenched shard burned a scar into his leg, with Rafaela crying out in pain even as Alicia tended to her.

* * *

Larrin sat in the little doctor's office with her head in her hands. The entire mission had gone to _wraith shit _and it was her fault. She'd let her want of vengeance get the better of her and now at the very least, three of her people were dead and in body bags just next door. Not to mention the fact that they all still might die if that Shade wasn't dead outside.

Larrin had learned a lot about warfare from Marks. About how technological superiority could be exploited, and even countered. The Olim weren't even a match for her people, let alone the Atlanteans.

Why did she even bother letting them run everything? They never fought with everything they had. Sam had dropped the hammer on Menalus after the invasion but that was it. The raid had been out of necessity, not vengeance. What was the point of moral superiority when your enemy just didn't care?

Larrin ignored the medics as they tended to the wounded. Jalen had a crushed pelvis and would need hospitalization – the treatment he'd gotten would stave off death for a few days, but everyone was in bad shape. Larrin only hoped life supposed lasted long enough for rescue.

* * *

"You know what they did to her, don't you?"

They still sat across from each other; Marks knew if he'd gotten closer they might just come to blows. Aleron replied succinctly. "I have my thoughts."

Marks took in a deep breath; he wasn't enjoying the prospect of a few days stuck with Aleron. He only hoped the others on the ship had survived as well. "And what are you _thoughts? _Hmm? The hell did they do to her?"

Aleron didn't meet Marks gaze, he only asked softly. "Larrin or your woman?"

Marks clenched his fists – he knew in a hand to hand fight he wouldn't stand a chance against the trained warrior. "…She wasn't _mine._ We don't _own_ people like property."

Aleron sighed as if irritated. "I know that you _Tristis fossor. _But Katana… the captain of Sobek; you and she were betrothed?"

Marks fought his memory. He missed Katana even now, months after. Was his guilt distracting him? What did his military honor mean when he couldn't function properly? "…Yes. But I'm talking about them both. Larrin was nothing like she is now, and she refuses to tell me what happened to her. She won't tell anyone."

Aleron nodded idly, Marks felt like maybe in his adrenal rage he _could_ fight the man. "Katana was simply stubborn. Menalus would have left her alone if she'd given up the information he wanted. Unfortunate, but truth."

Marks held his anger back. It was getting harder and harder to do that but there wasn't much choice now. He might win or he might lose in a fight, and it'd be stupid to throw his life away in emotional anger. "…I figured that. She was stubborn in everything – she was the kind of person who gets things done."

"Sounds familiar." Marks looked up at Aleron who now met his look. "I _am_ sorry. I would have never sanctioned such an interrogation, or the death of a sentient prisoner."

"Sentient?" Marks asked. "You mean you'd execute other things? Like a Shade?"

Aleron nodded. "Of course."

Marks bit his lip and looked away. The Bridge had a few rations in storage compartments. The Travelers often didn't bother to go to a mess hall to eat and instead just ate wherever they were. It made a mess, but that was how they lived. Just like Marks was realizing that the Olim truly weren't at all like the Humans he'd known in the SGC's exploits. "What about Larrin? Is it true? Did they rape her?"

Aleron remained still, Marks knew it was a blunt question but he _wanted_ an answer. Despite her naivety, Larrin had proven useful. Maybe once he had an idea of what happened to her, he could understand and even try and return her to a leadership position. Aleron quietly said. "Not in the way you think. The Olim don't do that. It's…_different_ for us. What I think happened to her is…" Aleron held his words; he shook his head idly and sighed. "Not rape, but yes, I do feel she was… _violated."_

Marks gave small selfish thanks that it hadn't happened to Katana. He knew it was wrong and oh so selfish to think it, but for Katana to have ended like Larrin now… he didn't think he had it in him to control his rage at that thought. "Then what? The same thing he did to Radek? That mental sharing telepathy?"

"No." Aleron muttered. "I don't know exactly, and hazarding a guess would only exacerbate the issue. She's alive and she's healing." Aleron rubbed the bridge of his nose; Marks could see he was hurting just as bad as he was from the violence mere minutes ago. "Let her heal. Anger is like a flame, it eventually burns itself out."

Marks sighed, despite everything, he had to admit the Olim were good at their metaphors.

* * *

"Just bite down, don't even try and fight it, just..." Reyna quietly whispered as she began to pull the shard of crystal from Rafaela's shoulder. The painkillers she'd given her helped, but Rafaela still gave a muffled scream through the glove she bit down on as the shard tore more flesh as it was pulled out. "There we go… now this might sting a bit…" Reyna inserted an injection tube filled with biofoam and depressed it. She recalled from personal experience how strange it felt and held the beck end of the open wound, Rafaela's shirt pulled down to give Reyna access.

Finally, the foam hardened and the treatment was over. Reyna pulled back and allowed Rafaela to pull the leather glove from her mouth. "There… all done. Don't make any strenuous motions and it'll heal on its own now. You're lucky it didn't hit your shoulder blade.

Rafaela shivered, her skin had gone even paler and she wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist. "Thanks…"

Reyna grit her teeth. They were trapped on the shuttle now. Thankfully Ashima had managed to get thrusters back online and they'd be heading back to Medai sooner rather than later. With any luck, they'd be able to send a message back to Atlantis and get rescue here faster.

The inside of the shuttle smelled like copper now, not like the familiar rusty smell she usually got from Traveler ships. Dan lay on his side, Alicia comforting him as he grimaced and convulsed from the still inserted shard on the back of his right thigh. The shard had been traveling so fast it had shattered the trinium plate and gone right to the bone. Reyna was amazed Dan was still conscious. Ashima worked in the front section, slowly drifting them closer to Medai.

"Is he alright?"

Reyna turned in mild surprise to Rafaela. She hadn't expected the question "Hmm?"

Rafaela was fighting her hyperventilation and half-calmly asked."Dan… is he going to be okay?"

Reyna pursed her lips. Dan's injury had been much more severe and he needed supplies that were only on Medai. It was too dangerous to try and pull the shard out, and Reyna knew they needed to hurry. "The sooner we get to Medai the better, but once we're back on Atlantis it won't be a problem. Carson's been working on new techniques for healing wounds like this because of the Shade – it's what we used to heal Dusty."

* * *

Rafaela sniffled, the mood should have been celebratory. They'd killed the Shade and all that was left was a husk of burnt naquadah and trinium. It was slowly falling into the atmosphere of the blue gas giant; any hopes of salvaging it went with it. "Good…" Rafaela closed her eyes and leaned back on the wall. The pain in her shoulder was blunted by the painkillers, but it still burned like she'd been skewered with a hot poker. "Rey?"

Reyna put away her things and sat down, keeping Rafaela Company. "Yeah?"

Rafaela took long deep breaths. They were right, it did help. "Do you ever wish you could have been something else?"

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"When you grew up." Rafaela shifted her position, now lying back against the wall trying to get comfortable. "Or…_were_ growing up. Did you always want to be a doctor?"

Reyna's expression changed from surprised to merely curious. Rafaela could tell she was analyzing her. "Why do you ask?"

"Ha-ha, I'm not delirious if that's what you're thinking."

"I never said that!" Reyna pouted, and shot a quick glance to see Alicia propping Dan's head up onto her lap to get a better hold of the man. He'd fallen into shock soon after the injury and was incoherent.

Rafaela saw it too and wondered – what if that had happened before her little tryst with the man? "No. but you're thinking it."Rafaela chuckled softly and shook her head. "I'm just curious. I was always smart for my age and well… my parents always wanted me to be this big success." She scoffed and laughed softly. "Now I'm here in the middle of nowhere in a galaxy I didn't even know existed blowing up aliens that eat planets and stars. Mom would have a heart attack."

Reyna reached over and gave Rafaela's leg a gentle squeeze of reassurance. "You did great today, Ella. Your parents would be proud."

Rafaela nodded idly, more out of just instinct than agreement. She wondered what exactly was coming in her life if doing the crazy thing she did on a regular basis now was…well normal. She idly listened to Ashima as she called out that they were on course for docking with what was left of Medai… She only hoped that sooner rather than later she'd be on her bed in Atlantis, sleeping comfortably in a place she felt more like home.

* * *

**End of Episode 8**

**Episode Notes: **Yes that's the end of it. We'll see consequences in the upcoming episodes :) The Shade indeed can absorb materials at a very fast rate when they've got access to a large amount of energy. Think of it the same way your body can absorb more calories if you eat more refined foods and have a high metabolism.

**Teaser for next episode - Ringo Star**

**Samantha Carter: **Uhh..._wow._ I don't think I've ever seen something like this.

**Radek Zelenka: **When I was child, I used to dream of standing amongst the Stars themselves and being able to bask in creation.

**Ashima Nadice: **Every Traveler has felt like that at some point.

**Roland Mattrus: **We call it 'The Synchronicity'; A moment when you realize how small you are, but how much you can change everything around you. Cherish it, it only comes once.

**Radek Zelenka: **Once is enough, I can hold this feeling forever.


End file.
